Book Review: The Story Grid

The Story Grid is a tool developed by editor Shawn Coyne to analyze stories and provide helpful editorial comments. It's like a CT Scan that takes a photo of the global story and tells the editor or writer what is working, what is not, and what must be done to make what works better and fix what's not.

The Story Grid breaks down the component parts of stories to identify the problems. And finding the problems in a story is almost as difficult as the writing of the story itself (maybe even more difficult.)

The Story Grid is a tool with many applications:

1. It will tell a writer if a Story "works" or "doesn't work."
2. It pinpoints story problems but does not emotionally abuse the writer, revealing exactly where a Story (not the person creating the Story...the Story) has failed.
3. It will tell the writer the specific work necessary to fix that Story's problems.
4. It is a tool to re-envision and resuscitate a seemingly irredeemable pile of paper stuck in an attic drawer.
5. It is a tool that can inspire an original creation.

The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know by Shawn Coyne was published in April 2015 by Black Irish Entertainment.

I have been following their YouTube channel for a few years now, picking up writing tips and tricks. I decided to pick up Coyne's book that further breaks down the method he has been teaching now for years.

The book itself is laid out much like a textbook (big pages, lots of white space, chapter identifying side bars) though it reads very casual and conversational. I could easily see it supporting lectures on the topic.

For the most part, a lot of what Coyne presents here I have picked up previously from other writing books and videos. His words further reinforce the guidelines I've already been working with as a writer. In some instances, I learned some fancy terms for things (the Kubler-Ross change curve, the Foolscap Global story grid, etc.). I would have preferred more example from books rather than films, but scenes are scenes.